Tag Archives: Senate

Wisconsin US Senate Endorsement

Posted by Tim on

The Wisconsin US Senate race is in full swing right now. The Democrats are sticking to their strategy of running Tammy Baldwin against whoever the Republican nominee will be. Although Baldwin is a far left whacko from Madison, she is semi-known and will have all the support of Wisconsin’s liberal media. Does she have a chance? In my opinion, no. Wisconsin is on such a role for conservatism, I doubt she’ll beat her opponent, no matter who he is.

The Republican nominees are four strong candidates, any of whom would make a fantastic Senator. Each candidate has their issues, and here’s how I’ve been breaking it down thus far. Tommy Thompson is a former Governor of Wisconsin. With that title, he earns the top seat as far as popularity goes, and a Thompson vs Baldwin ticket would be an very easy win. Unfortunately, when we take a look into Tommy’s past, he’s not the most conservative candidate. He was a moderate (at best) governor, and when he left to work for the Bush administration in 2000, he managed to help Bush throw on tons of debt.

Mark Neumann is a former Republican representative, and he has a strong backbone when it comes to issues. He’s a proud conservative, a private businessman, and has a good record to run on. But in the last 2 elections he’s lost. He’s kind of seen as a loser at this point, someone who cannot capture the attention of independents or Democrats. He also really ticked a lot of people off when he badmouthed his opponent for Governor – Scott Walker, thereby giving Walker the victory. As much as I like Neumann, he may need to work on his politics.

Jeff Fitzgerald… honestly, I don’t know where he is! I don’t see TV ads for him. I don’t hear radio ads for him. I haven’t gotten any phone calls from his campaign asking for my support. He is far behind in the race, and I’m about ready to count him out. Not just because he lacks publicity, but because I don’t know anything about him. As a voter, I shouldn’t need to dig through Google to find out about someone. Fitzgerald should be pandering to me. Since he hasn’t, I don’t know where he stands on the issues, and he’s at the far back of my mind.

Eric Hovde is a private sector businessman, who was unknown up until a few months ago. A good thing about candidates having money is that they can basically bankroll themselves and not need to do a lot of fundraising. Hovde has hit the ground running with nonstop TV and radio ads. Not only are there a lot of ads, but the ads are compelling. Hovde’s campaign is doing a great job thus far. He comes off as the real deal, and he is the only person who is really in the running, other than Thompson.

The choice is set – Thompson or Hovde… Moderate politician, or Conservative businessman? I have to go with my gut and give my support to Hovde. Wisconsin needs another Ron Johnson – someone from outside politics who is willing to make the tough decisions of our time. With Thompson’s history as a spender and grower of government, I cannot give him my support. Of course, if he wins the nomination I’ll vote for him over Baldwin, but now is the time to pick the person who will make the best Senator for Wisconsin – Eric Hovde.

Politics 2012

Posted by Tim on

Well, if you haven’t heard the news – Rick Santorum officially suspended his campaign. No more “conservative alternative” to Mitt Romney. In the end, Romney’s millions of dollars were just too much for Santorum, and with numerous personal troubles with his family, (including the health of his daughter, Bella) it was time to call it quits. He was still my pick, and I’m proud to have supported a strong candidate and a good man. But he’s still young – don’t think that Santorum will be gone forever. We may very well see him in the next round of primaries in 4 or 8 years.

In the meantime, its now time to move our attention from Romney vs Santorum to Romney vs Obama. We had a hell of a time picking our team leader, but now that he’s picked, its time for Romney to show the same viciousness he showed to Gingrich and Santorum to Barack Obama. Of course, now that Obama knows who his opponent will be in November, he’ll start attacking Romney heavily as well. With that in mind, its time to rally behind Romney. Let the games begin!

Here in Wisconsin we’re also coming up on Scott Walker’s recall election. I spend enough time in the more liberal communities to hear all of the arguments against Walker. He’s against “workers’ rights”, he’s “destroying our schools”. The fact of the matter is that Wisconsin had a $3 billion deficit before Walker was elected. By the end of his first year Wisconsin had a $300,000 surplus. He did this by eliminating numerous collective bargaining privileges that were being used to take the public for every tax dollar they had. What this meant was that Wisconsin had one of the worst business climates in America, and some of the highest taxes as well.

Since Walker took over property taxes went down for the first time in years, unemployment is down, economic outlook is favorable, and 8 out of 10 business owners feel Wisconsin is on the right track. Scott Walker passed voter ID laws, concealed carry laws, the castle doctrine, and of course, his infamous “Act 10″. At the end of the day, Wisconsin is turning around. Not only do Wisconsinites know it, but so does the rest of the nation. Scott Walker was named governor of the year – by the other 49 governors of the United States.

But he’s being recalled. Public employee unions want their money, their benefits, and their so-called “rights”. Democratic candidates will battle it out soon for a chance to be Walker’s opponent. Kathleen Falk appeals to far left liberals, while Tom Barrett has the more moderate approach. Each have their own hang ups. Falk lacks the name recognition needed to bring down Walker, and Barrett has already attempted to beat Walker back in 2010 – he lost by a landslide. Only time will tell who the democratic nominee will be.

But there’s more. Long time US Senator, Herb Kohl, is retiring. His seat will be up for grabs in November, and plenty of people are jumping on board. For the democrats – just one – Tammy Baldwin. For the Republicans – 4 different names are already in the hat. Mark Neumann, who ran against Walker in the Republican primary for the governor’s office; Eric Hovde, a businessman running a similar campaign to Ron Johnson’s in 2010;  Jeff Fitzgerald, Wisconsin’s speaker of the House; and former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson. I’m looking forward to learning more about each of the candidates. At the moment I’m leaning towards Tommy Thompson, for the sole fact that he’d be an easy win against Baldwin. But my opinion could change.

All in all, this summer and fall are shaping up to be very interesting. The presidential election alone is enough to drive most voters crazy. Add in some heated Senate races and the recall of the most loved and hated governor in America – Ha! This is what its all about! Bring it on, baby!